Alejandro Garnacho shares a very honest thought in his first interview as an Aston Villa player
In his first chat since joining Aston Villa, Alejandro Garnacho shared that he’s really keen to find his confidence again and become “the player I was in my early days at Manchester United.”
On Thursday afternoon, Villa announced they’ve signed Garnacho on a season-long loan from Chelsea. The deal reportedly includes a £43 million clause that depends on how many games he plays. Last season, the Argentine scored eight goals in 43 matches during the 2025-26 season.
The 22-year-old winger, who moved from Manchester United to Chelsea in August for about £40 million, has a big supporter in Villa’s boss, Unai Emery.
“We’re thrilled to have Alejandro. He’s young, talented, and really eager to help our team,” said Emery, who led Villa to a Europa League win last season. “We’re very happy.”
In an interview with Aston Villa’s official media, Garnacho kept talking about “confidence.” When asked why he chose Villa, he said, “I think I was looking for a club where I could get my confidence back and try to be the player I was a few years ago at Manchester United. I spoke with the manager, and he gave me that confidence to join and help the team.”
He also shared how much it means to work with Emery: “I talked with Unai before coming here, and he gave me the confidence I needed. That’s why I’m here.”
When asked to describe himself as a player, Garnacho mentioned confidence again. “I’m a winger, I play on the left side but I’m right-footed. I love to run, dribble, cross the ball, cut inside, and shoot. The only thing I need now is to get my confidence back and play well on the pitch.”
Garnacho is hoping to step up his game in the next few months. Last season, he scored just one goal in 24 Premier League games for Chelsea and didn’t get many chances to play regularly.
Chelsea is going through a summer change, already signing five new players: Geovany Quenda, Denner, Dastan Satpaev, Emmanuel Emegha, and Marco Palestra. They’re also aiming for another young player, Bayer Leverkusen’s rising star Kerim Alajbegovic, according to Faktor.
Alajbegovic made World Cup history for Bosnia and Herzegovina this summer when his goal against Qatar made him the youngest player to score from outside the penalty area since 1966.
He had a great season at Red Bull Salzburg, scoring nine goals and providing three assists in the Austrian Bundesliga. After that, he moved back to Leverkusen in March when they used a buyback clause to bring him home.